


Through Your Eyes

by Rin_the_Shadow



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019), Dororo (Stage Play)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Brother Kaname, Canon Disabled Character, Families of Choice, Family, Gen, Mama Jukai, No plot just fluff, Semiverbal Character, Various AUs, just characters describing stuff, some makeshift sign language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28044186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: In their free moments, various characters from Dororo describe things which Hyakkimaru's soul sight cannot see.Inspired by a scene from the 2019 stage play (and the corresponding scene in the anime) in which Dororo describes Autumn to Hyakkimaru. Takes place in various AU's, which will be specified in the notes for each chapter.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru & Tahomaru (Dororo), Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo), Hyakkimaru & Jukai (Dororo), Hyakkimaru & Kaname (Dororo), Hyakkimaru & Saburota (Dororo), Hyakkimaru & Tahomaru (Dororo)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is mostly canon compliant with either the 2019 anime or stage play.

“Dororo?” He turned his head at the sound of Hyakkimaru’s voice.

“Hm? What’s up?” Dororo asked.

“Stars. Night sky. It is pretty?” Hyakkimaru turned his head upwards, trying to imagine what he might have been looking at. He could think of plenty of things which were pretty, but none of them made sense to put in the sky. Even if somehow those things _did_ get there, he would have been able to see them.

“Yeah. Tonight’s really pretty!” Dororo’s aura took on a soft edge. It was nice to see him so content. “You’re going to love it once you get your eyes back.”

After retrieving his ears, Hyakkimaru wasn’t so sure about that.

“Hey, bro? I could try to tell you about them now,” Dororo suddenly offered.

“Mm.”

“Okay. Um…Oh! You know how you like to look at stuff in the river? Not like when there’s a big fish or a crab, but when there’s those smaller things. Like little bugs or whatever. Except stars don’t really look like bugs, they’re more like dots or something. Like seeds, I guess.”

“Mm…” Seeds made sense, he guessed. More sense than bugs, anyway.

“So if you threw the seeds in the water and they were all floating all over the place, that’s kind of how they look. Some are close together and some are farther apart. They make all kinds of patterns and stuff. But they’re lights, not seeds. Oh! And they’re bright, but not so bright it hurts to look at them.”

Like souls. If that soul was happy, but still calm.

Dororo paused. “Is that just completely weird?”

Hyakkimaru shook his head. Seeds weren’t pretty by themselves, but he could imagine how you could put them into patterns that were. And besides, Dororo said they weren’t _really_ seeds, just kind of shaped like them.

“Okay.” Dororo’s aura took on a calm, happy tone. “Then that’s kind of what it’s like.”

Hyakkimaru looked up and tried to imagine it. Thousands of seeds, arranged into patterns. Bright like a quiet, happy soul. He supposed he could almost picture it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is at least partially repurposed from a 1-sentence prompt fic I wrote and put in a Discord server about a year ago, but with the dialogue expanded instead of it just being Dororo's description. In my mind, I see this one taking place somewhere between episode 10 and 11, but you could arguably put it between 13 and 14 if you want to.
> 
> The main reason this fic exists is because a lot of my more recent Dororo fanfics tend to have a bit more angst in them, and I kind of missed the days when I wrote more fluff. Also because Patchwork has a plot now, so I have to think about that instead of strictly writing fluff wherever I want XD 
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	2. Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in a variant of a stage AU in which Saburota does not betray the group.

“Hm…the sun’s kind of a hard one, since you can’t really look at it, you know?” Saburota drawled, shifting his spear so it balanced over his shoulders like a pair of water buckets.

Hyakkimaru sighed. Of _course_ it would be hard to explain. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t still want to know.

“Right, right,” he mumbled. “Then let’s see what we can do…”

He and Dororo had fumbled around with a few different ideas that didn’t really make much sense before they’d settled on fire.

“You feel that, right? When it’s all warm over you. Feels pretty good, most of the time. But too much of it and it starts to burn, yeah?” Hyakkimaru had felt temperature for some time, now. The warmth wasn’t anything he didn’t know about, but Dororo and Saburota seemed to think it was an important starting point.

“Yeah! Only you put it just in the sky and somehow it lights up everything!” Dororo gestured broadly. “Oh! But if you look at it, it’s kinda like that time we pissed off a bunch of bugs. Like it’s stinging you, but just in your eyes.”

Then looking at the sun didn’t sound like something he wanted to do.

Even though you couldn’t really look at it, it kind of had a round shape. Hyakkimaru could understand shapes, but because he had learned them before he had ears or a voice, he didn’t always know the sound of their names. Round was one he was pretty sure he knew.

In the end, they had found a small pebble which they found to be of a suitable shape, and let him press it to his cheek. “It’s not exactly like that,” they had explained. “But it’s pretty close.”

They had passed it back and forth between them for awhile, until Saburota had thrown it into a pond. He claimed it was an accident, but from the mirth in his aura, Hyakkimaru thought it might have been more of an impulse. Dororo had demanded he apologize and find another one, which was about half a joke even as his fists pounded against his arm.

Hyakkimaru turned his face up towards the sky. If it would sting his eyes, probably he was better off not seeing it. But at least the warmth on his skin felt nice. For now. Today wasn’t too hot, so it wasn’t quite like a fire. Maybe if a fire could be a little less hot, but…

“Agh! Hey, call off your kid! I’ll find another rock!” Saburota yelped, but there was no distress in his soul. Not more than usual, anyway.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. But as he watched Dororo latch onto his arm and yank him around, Hyakkimaru couldn’t help but laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because apparently I will never be over the stage version actually making me think he was going to be their ally. At some point, I'd like to do an AU that features both Saburota and Tahomaru joining the group, but I'd have to decide what I wanted to do with it first.
> 
> This one was originally written in September, with some edits made since then. Because I have a few wips going, I didn't want to start uploading this one until I had everything or close to everything completed.
> 
> I wanted to make the relationship between Saburota and Hyakkimaru (as well as Dororo) a warmer one than where they are in my stage AU right now, but still have it be at least a little bit distinct from his relationships to Tahomaru and Kaname in their respective AU's.
> 
> But in any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	3. Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking place in the Kaname AU, after Hyakkimaru has regained his ears and gotten relatively used to sound and words, but before they make it to Banmon.

“Hm. What’s moon? With eyes, what’s moon?” He thought maybe he could use some writing to help Kaname know what he meant, but he didn’t think he knew the motions to write _moon_.

Kaname’s aura shifted, and he might have been looking up where the moon was. Then he got up and went to where Dororo was sleeping, shaking him carefully. “Hey, Dororo? Can you wake up for a moment?”

Seconds later, Dororo groaned and rolled over. “Mm?”

“I’m taking Hyakkimaru to the stream for a minute. Do you want to come, or will you be all right here?”

Why did he need to go to the stream? The moon was in the sky, not in the water.

Dororo didn’t answer, but he held out his arms and let Kaname pick him up. Shifting him so that he was balanced against his hip, Kaname came back to Hyakkimaru, resting a hand on his shoulder and then pulling him to his feet when he took his hand.

The stream was quiet. There weren’t many bugs screeching or frogs croaking, and Hyakkimaru was glad for that. It would be hard to know what Kaname was saying if everything else kept making noise, too.

Kaname sat them down at the edge of the stream, and Dororo slumped against his side.

“All right,” Kaname spoke softly. “The moon is in the sky and it’s round.”

He took Hyakkimaru’s hands, starting them together, moving them apart and down, and then lower and back together. A very large circle.

“It has some light, but it’s not usually enough to see by. That’s part of why people use fire at night.” He recognized the signs Kaname used for _cold, not-seeing, fire need._ “But because it isn’t bright, you can also look at it and it won’t hurt your eyes.”

There was a tap on the side of his chin, asking permission. Hyakkimaru put his hand over Kaname’s instead of pulling away, and Kaname turned his face in the direction of where the moon must have been. “If the sunlight is like fire or stinging, then moonlight is more like this…”

He tapped Hyakkimaru’s leg just below the knee and directed him to put his foot in the water. It was a cool, gentle flowing. But he thought maybe the moon must be a little less…slidey, if Kaname seemed to like it so much.

The coolness was nice, though. Maybe the moon was more like that.

“It’s very gentle, so I think you’d like it.” There was a soft edge to Kaname’s aura, which flickered out slightly.

Maybe. He agreed that maybe he might like it.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the chapters that were written in or before September. At the time I wrote it, I think it was also my favorite.
> 
> I had thought a bit about having Dororo be awake for at least part of this, but because I wrote it in close proximity to the Sun chapter, I had wanted to focus a bit more on just Hyakkimaru and Kaname for the most part. While Hyakkimaru does use signs with Kaname in this AU, I sometimes don't feature it as much as I would like.
> 
> But in any event, if you have any questions or otherwise, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	4. Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking place in my main AU where Tahomaru has joined the group. In my mind, I place it sometime after "It Goes Bump in the Night," but before "A Patchwork Family Tree."

A low rumble sounded over the horizon. Hyakkimaru held out a hand, then let it drop once he realized it wasn’t beginning to rain.

Tahomaru, on the other hand, seemed anxious, reaching for his sleeve and his shoulder. “We should get inside.”

It was probably for the best. It wasn’t storming now, but if it turned out to be a bad one, it wouldn’t be good to get stuck out in the middle of it.

When they’d returned to their shelter, Tahomaru continued staring up at the sky. There weren’t any birds or anything, so he must have been looking at the clouds. Hyakkimaru had to wonder just what it was he saw in them, anyway, since he seemed to think he could figure something out by looking at them. So then did they have patterns, the way souls did?

“Do you see the clouds as well?” At first, he didn’t realize Tahomaru had spoken to him. But when he felt his gaze still resting on him, he realized there had been a question, and he was expecting a response.

“Hm? No,” he answered. “But…what…” No. _What_ wasn’t the right word. “How…are clouds?”

“What?”

Oh. Maybe that wasn’t… Hm. “Do…you see clouds?” That wasn’t right either, but maybe it was closer to what he’d meant.

Recognition lit up in Tahomaru’s soul. “Oh! You want to know what they look like?” He turned his gaze back to the sky. “Hm…”

“I don’t know how much I can help you, because I don’t really understand the way your sight works.” Tahomaru figured this was best to admit from the beginning. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

A mist over a lake in the early morning was the first image which came to him, but from what little he understood, Hyakkimaru didn’t see mist, either. He tried to think of something that might fit, searching the place for anything that could work and looking back to check on Hyakkimaru and Dororo (who was curled up and fast asleep nearby) whenever a particularly loud rumble of thunder sounded. Of course, his elder brother had said it was just that something was _wrong_ with that particular storm, but the fact remained that Tahomaru didn’t know what made a _wrong_ storm different from a regular one.

There were some scraps of fabric, but that wouldn’t help much since Hyakkimaru didn’t really see those. And besides that, they didn’t really fit well with the image of mist. What else was there? If it wasn’t about to rain, he could go look for some plants or something that he could bunch up. _It’s the feeling of mist, I think, but the shape of it is more like this._

There had to be _something_ that would show up.

As he searched for something to explain with, Hyakkimaru watched. Clouds probably weren’t something solid, but he knew they held water and sometimes lightning and thunder, and that it was colder when they were above them. Maybe they should wait until after the storm, and then Tahomaru could draw the outline on the ground? It had to have a shape, didn’t it? So writing it down should be possible.

His brow lowered at the increasing worry in Tahomaru’s aura. There was something that wasn’t right about that. Especially since Dororo’s aura hadn’t had that much worry most of the time, even in the earliest days.

He must not have been able to find anything, because he was starting to wring his hands. At least, until he noticed that Hyakkimaru was watching. In that moment, it almost seemed like something clicked, and he came back over to him. It was an uncertain idea, but it must have been one he thought was worth it.

“Brother. You see human souls as white, right?” He waited for Hyakkimaru to nod before continuing. “They’re a little like this,” he said, clasping his hands together in a way that made them look like an odd, round, lumpy shape. “But only pay attention to my hands, not the rest of my arms.”

Hyakkimaru reached out, hesitating a moment before grabbing onto Tahomaru’s wrists. The green of his own prosthetics helped to break the image up, to let him focus on the part Tahomaru told him to focus on.

“And sometimes, there are a lot of them, so many that you can’t see all of them because they’re so close together, and they cover up the whole sky.”

Weird, lumpy shapes that held rain and thunder. For a moment, Hyakkimaru wondered if Tahomaru wasn’t entirely sure how they worked, either. Of course he wouldn’t. Humans couldn’t fly.

But he could at least form something of an image in his mind.

“They’re kind of like a really thick mist, too, so imagine one that’s in the sky instead of on the lake and—”

“It’s also like that time you fought that giant centipede and it flaked off all the ashes, except it’s only above you and it’s white and gray, not read!” Dororo chirped helpfully, startling Tahomaru and causing Hyakkimaru to let go of his hands.

“It’s like the _what?_ ” Tahomaru yelped, trying to sound less startled than he must have felt. “And how long have you been awake?”

“Since you started rummaging around! Sheesh! You were louder than the thunder!” Dororo shot back. “I thought there was a bear or a raccoon or something!”

Normally, this would have gone on for a few minutes at least, but a particularly loud crack of thunder cut them off. Hyakkimaru flinched. There was nothing Wrong with it, but it was going to be a noisy one.

“You okay, bro?” Dororo asked, already digging around for the cloth.

“Mm,” he nodded, focusing on his hands. Trying to work them into the same shape Tahomaru had made earlier as he moved to sit down beside them.

It was going to be a loud one, but maybe it would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually the last one which I completed, with about a three month gap between this one and the Moon chapter, but I wanted it to be the fourth in the lineup. The main reasons it took me awhile were because first, I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be Tahomaru or someone else who explained this one, and second, because having written either. 
> 
> Rainb0wr0b0mancer is the one who came up with the idea of mist, and I really liked that idea so I wanted to find a way to work it in. It didn't get as much of a presence as I would have liked because of the backdrop of the storm rolling in, but at some point I may have to write a loose follow-up that involves the group going down to the lake in the early morning.
> 
> In any event, if you have any questions or otherwise, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	5. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This particular AU is compatible with either the main AU where Tahomaru joins the group (probably sometime during "A Patchwork Family Tree"), the stage AU where Saburota joins the group, or a variation of the Big Bro Kaname AU.

“You’ve always enjoyed those, haven’t you?” Jukai smiled as Hyakkimaru laid himself down on his stomach in front of some budding flowers.

It was more of a statement than a question, so Hyakkimaru didn’t answer.

“Dororo tells me you see with your soul, and that plants appear green to you.” There was a question somewhere in that, but Hyakkimaru wasn’t sure what it was.

“Mm,” he answered anyway.

For awhile after that, he heard the methodic scraping of the chisel against the wood that would become…he wasn’t sure yet. There was enough that it could maybe be an arm or a leg, but then, with all the pieces that would have to be part of it, maybe a leg would be too much.

But then the sound stopped, and there was a slight crunching of grass as Jukai walked over to him and sat down. Hyakkimaru couldn’t remember if he had done that when he was a child, but maybe he had at some point. Maybe not with these plants, but with some of the others that he used in different medicines.

“Is…not green? For you, too?” Hyakkimaru asked.

There was a brief flash in Jukai’s aura. He must not have expected the question. “Parts of it are green to me,” he said. “For example, the stems and the leaves appear green. But the petals, the parts at the top of it, those appear as more of a purple.”

“Purple?”

“Ah. Do you not see that one?” Jukai paused, thinking of what he could use to explain it. Was there something close to it? “Which colors do you see?”

Perhaps that wouldn’t be any better, but hopefully, since he could identify things that were green, it would mean he knew the names for a few of the others as well.

“Demons are red. Humans are white flame,” he paused, brow lowering as he thought. “Metal is blue…”

He stopped, tracing a line in the dirt, mimicking the shape of a sword.

“A blue outline?” Jukai guessed.

“Outline…” Hyakkimaru repeated, tracing over the line again. “Yes, blue outline. And…some others. But no words.”

Then purple very well could be a color he recognized and simply didn’t have the word for. But without seeing the way his son saw, Jukai had no way of helping him to name it. Perhaps there was something close to it.

“Purple is something like a faded blue.” Between his tone and his aura, it was clear he wasn’t satisfied with it. “It isn’t exact, but that’s probably the closest thing to what you see.”

“Faded? Like dying?” Blue souls didn’t really fade the way the others did. Hyakkimaru had never been quite sure why that was. Maybe there was no reason for it.

“It’s a little different than that, it’s…” Jukai suddenly paused, reaching near the shoulder of his sleeve. Hyakkimaru twisted around, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. Sometimes Dororo would hold something up for him to feel. Was that what he was doing?

Jukai unrolled the sleeve as Hyakkimaru pushed himself upright, holding out his hands. Whatever it was, it was something he couldn’t see. So he waited as Jukai adjusted his hands to show him which part to hold onto. He touched it to his cheek, feeling a narrow strip of fabric. It was a bit worn out in places. Oh! This was the thing Jukai used to keep his sleeves out of the way.

“This is what I mean by faded. I suppose ‘worn’ might be a better word for it.” Jukai let him explore the threadbare texture a bit more, waiting for him to hand it back. “Purple is something like a worn blue.”

“Hm.” Hyakkimaru settled himself back down, his focus returning to the flower. Purple, huh? Green suited it just fine. But if he looked at it closely enough, he thought he could almost imagine it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for now the story is complete, unless I happen to think of a bonus scene which I absolutely need to be part of this fic instead of its own. But I don't have one in mind (yet?), so I consider this fic complete.
> 
> While the Clouds chapter is the first one chronologically to use a little bit of POV-switching, this is the first one I wrote that had them loosely switching between points of view. In the Dororo Discord, plants and/or flowers was suggested as the fifth prompt, and while Hyakkimaru can see flowers as shown in episode 3, he doesn't see their color.
> 
> Based on the anime, at least, the other colors Hyakkimaru sees are orange (seemingly somewhere between hostile and benevolent) and yellow/golden (which I tend to use to mean benevolent spirits, but of course then you have the rice from episode 6, so....)
> 
> I really wanted this one to be with Jukai, and to be the last of the five scenes largely because I felt it fit there, as well as because it is the only one not to be focused on things in the sky. But also because I wanted Hyakkimaru (and by extension any other characters he is traveling with) to get some time to just rest and just be, and for whatever reason, Jukai's home is something I see as fitting that.
> 
> If you have any questions, or otherwise, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


End file.
